KOTA KINABALU — An Eucharistic celebration was held at Sacred Heart Cathedral here on 31 August 2022 to launch the Year 3 environmental campaign “Protect our earth, protect our children,” an initiative endorsed by the Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
Archbishop John Wong was the main celebrant for the Mass, concelebrated with Bishop Joseph Hii of Sibu and some clergy from KK Archdiocese and other dioceses. At the Mass, aside from the local parishioners, were some invited representatives from Kuala Lumpur, Melaka Johor, Penang, Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Keningau, Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Laudato’ Si Action Platform Asia, and the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference.
The campaign is a five-year programme from 1 Sept 2020 to 31 Aug 2025 with a different theme each year: Year 1 “Use Less Electricity”; Year 2 “Cut Down Meat, Dairy and Food Waste”; and the theme for this year: “Stop Plastic Pollution.” This campaign is on from 1 Sept 2022 to 31 Aug 2023.
This campaign is in line with the exhortation of Pope Francis’ Laudato’ Si to protect humankind from self-destruction and to lead all creatures back to God. In 2015, Pope Francis established Sept 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, encouraging Catholics around the world to pray for our common home. The theme for the Care of Creation this year is “Listening to the Voice of Creation.”
At the end of the Mass, Bishop Joseph Hii, chairman of the Regional Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, thanked the Sabah arch/dioceses for hosting the Year 3 environmental campaign. He then gave some concrete measures on how we can fulfil our commitment and duty of protecting our earth. This was followed by the unveiling of the buntings for “Protect our Earth, Protect our Children “to officially launch the Year 3 environmental campaign.
The ceremony ended with Bishop Hii handing over the posters and leaflets to the representatives of the various parishes and arch/dioceses to help create an awareness of this initiative.
